Hoboken, city in Hudson County, northeastern New Jersey, on the Hudson River, opposite New York City. Located near Jersey City, it is a commercial and manufacturing center and a seaport. Major products include processed food, electronic equipment, chemicals, machinery, paper and metal goods, and furniture. The Stevens Institute of Technology (1870) is here. White settlement began with the arrival of the Dutch in the first half of the 17th century. The site was purchased in 1784 by the inventor and steamboat builder John Stevens, who laid out the community in 1804. In the early 19th century Hoboken was a noted resort and contained the villas of many prominent New Yorkers. It was incorporated as a city in 1855. During World War I (1914-1918) many United States troops sailed for Europe from the city. The city's name is derived from the Lenni Lenape people's term for tobacco pipe. Population 42,460 (1980); 33,397 (1990); 38,577 (2000).
